Teletha Testarossa
"If they think it'll be that easy, they've sorely underestimated us. Arm torpedo tubes three, four, and five! Fire on my mark!" A soft-spoken young woman, few would expect the diminutive Teletha "Tessa" Testarossa - a petite sixteen-year-old with a propensity to squeek when she's startled - to secretly be the captain of the most advanced submarine weapon on the entire planet. But looks can be deceiving - beneath Tessa's cute appearance is a genius of submarine design and warfare that nobody else on the planet can match. Coupled with her inherent battlefield genius, Teletha presides over the operations of the super-advanced Mithril submarine the Tuatha De Danaan, and is therefore commander of Mithril's entire West Pacific Fleet. But to achieve such a thing at only sixteen is strange indeed - and Teletha's mysteriously advanced abilities has raised more than a few eyebrows among those who know of them. Background Information Background goes here. Personality Traits UPDATED AS THE WHIM TAKES ME WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THAT, SASSY *Newtypes: Tessa feels a mild but pointed jealousy toward Newtypes, who may share of themselves without the risk of their souls just up and falling off. Talents & Abilities Basic education up to the high school level; apparently superhuman knowledge of submarine design and warfare, with unusually advanced knowledge of general battlefield tactics and strategy, on par with or even surpassing that of a career admiral many times her age. She also wields a general mastery of math and theoretical sciences comparable to career experts, and sometimes veering into the outright superhuman. She has at least once solved postulates that weren't supposed to even be solvable. She can also swim very well and hold her breath for minutes at a time. However, other than this her physical abilities are effectively nil, and in a firefight of any scale she is complete dead weight, if even that useful. Additionally, Tessa's long experience with the Whispers, and extremely strong sense of who she is and what she stands for, gives her a level of psychic defense that very few can match. Although the weaknesses of the Whispered mean that a protracted resonance battle is extremely dangerous for her, Tessa is able to wield her resonance with finesse and skill to defend herself and others from psychic assault. However, as she (usually) lacks the sort of malign will necessary to inflict direct psychic harm on another, she is limited to simply disrupting others, rather than mounting her own counter-assault. Relations Friendship *Rachel Miu Athha: Tessa's relationship with the girl started as merely a liaison for Rachel to Mithril's efforts to cover up her change of affiliation. However, after Rachel's strange affliction led to an unexpected resonance, Tessa feels an emotional connection with the girl deeper than she shares with anyone; it is rare, after all, to know for a fact that another person understands your heart...and that you understand theirs. Tessa's troubling realizations about Cagalli and meeting Marie Parfacy have forced her to confront the fact that Rachel may not be as trustworthy as Tessa wants her to be, but her growing need for others to rely on and her psychic resonances with Rachel have led Tessa to be inclined to trust her even though this might be ill-advised. *Melissa Mao: The first person Tessa called by first name. Nobody's entirely certain what the source of this close friendship is, although the fact that Mao regularly raids the Merida Island bar and then wanders off to Tessa's room is a popular point to bring up. *Sousuke Sagara: Look he's hot, OK, god Trust *Kurz Weber: One of Tessa's trusted subordinates. He's a pervert, a lecher, and a slacker, but his reliability as a soldier is absolute; although his behavior annoys her sometimes, she trusts him to do anything she needs him to do with a smile and a wink. *Camille Bidan: A close friend of Tessa's that she maybe a little accidentally stole from the AEUG, Camille has seen closer to Tessa's heart than anyone else except the people she's actually resonated with, including overhearing, with his Newtype powers, the whispers assaulting her. Downgraded to Trust solely because he's also rather fickle and deeply immature, traits Tessa has put some work into overcoming...but he's just not very good at growing up. *Banjo Haran: Tessa was Banjo's contact with Orb back when he was still with the EFA. They spoke quite a bit in those days about what was wrong and right in the world, and Tessa trusts Banjo's morals. In a way, she's sad he's joined Katharon - yet another just man in the EFA has decided the institution simply cannot function as it now is. *Heero Yuy: When Heero Yuy was captured by Katharon for crimes of "trolling with lethal intent," Tessa came to him in his prison cell and spoke to him a number of times regarding his choices, his mission, and his life; although she does not understand him fully, she has done her best to convince him that every human being has a right to choose their own destiny -- and every human being has a right to live. If there is anyone who can tame the ZERO system, she believes it is him, and she intends to help him however she is able. *Akira Tadokoro: Katharon's resident ridiculous super-psychic. Akira's penchant for putting his brain where it doesn't go has gotten him in all sorts of trouble, including a period where it got him infested with the power of the Devil Gundam. When he then hunted down Tessa and attacked her, her powerful resonance allowed her to momentarily overpower him, enough that when others finally came to knock some sense into him, he was weakened enough for the gambit to succeed. Tessa has a lot of faith in Akira's ability...but not really so much in his judgment. Akira is dimly aware of the Whispered, but Tessa has thus far avoided having to explain the whole of the affair. *Cagalli Yula Athha: Despite the slightly odd couple nature of their relationship, Tessa and Cagalli have become fast friends over the years, particularly as a result of Tessa's helping Cagalli out of several binds, most notably having her examined for infection after she was cornered by the infected Tieria Erde during the Devil Gundam incident. As a direct result of her resonance with Rachel, the last walls between Tessa and Cagalli were torn down...only to be reconstructed when Tessa deduced that some unknown party has brainwashed Cagalli in ways the Princess cannot detect. Forced to hide things from the best friend she has that didn't halfway evolve from a freak accident of mental merging, Tessa's been forced to re-evaluate her opinion of /everyone/ a little more cynically, typically for the worse. The emergence of Marie Parfacy and all that her existence implies into her life has made this only worse. Tessa is agonized by the dueling impulses to constantly stay with Cagalli to keep an eye on her versus keeping her at arms' length for Tessa's protection, and the tension is doing terrible things to her stress levels. Still, she has vowed to her friend to help her and stand by her, and she won't go back on that. She'll just do it...carefully. Even if the last thing Tessa wants right now is to keep /more/ secrets. Affinity *Lockon Stratos: Tessa has talked shop with both Lockons, and the competence they showed impressed her quite a bit. Lockon I won her trust by demonstrating a willingness to fight Celestial Being, if they proved to be too broken to save. But it's been a long time since then, and the shape of the world has changed - she's no longer quite certain where they stand. She has not yet had a chance to get a feel for Lockon II, and still believes him to be the first and only...but she has met him, and the differences in mannerism and memories will probably tip her off to the truth sooner than later. *Zero: Zero is an enigma from another world - and Tessa's had only passing meetings with the man. But he's demonstrated a tactical genius and a noble heart that Tessa quite likes. Telling Sumeragi off for being a drunken lout made him briefly her favorite person anywhere. Tessa is saddened by his death, but not especially surprised; his reckless insistance on leading battles personally was sure to catch up with him eventually. *Amuro Ray: Tessa worries quite a bit about Amuro Ray. She just can't tell how he's putting up with the pressure and strain of the war, particularly given some of his past experiences and breakdowns. He seems alright for now, but that hovering 'for now' has her worried...still, she trusts him enough to raise no concerns regarding his helping of Rachel. She knows how difficult it is to grow into your powers without any guidance, and if anyone in Katharon is equipped to help Rachel stabilize, it's Amuro. She hopes. And now he's run off to A-LAWS like a maniac. She's sure he has /some/ plan, but what could it be...? *Soma Peries: A Super Soldier produced by a project related to the Newtype Labs, Soma and Tessa have a somewhat complicated up-and-down relationship currently characterized by Tessa's growing empathy for the girl's situation - which culminated, while Soma was captured by Mithril, in a shared hug that cracked a few of Tessa's ribs. Although she has not really seen Soma in a while, her relationship has improved subconsciously, as the emotionally troubling existence of Soma's other half, Marie Parfacy, has unconsciously made Tessa more well-inclined toward the half she does know...even if they /are/ enemies. *Kaname Chidori: A Whispered like herself, Tessa has taken it upon herself to protect codename "Angel" from the grasping hands of the EFA and DC's science divisions. Much like Rachel, Kaname began as an asset whose assertive personality, many trials, and kindness have won Tessa's admiration and friendship in turn. Although outside of Mithril, Kaname was one of the few people Tessa trusts deeply, occasionally granting her information that she frankly shouldn't even be telling her own staff, to say nothing of an unaffiliated civilian. Which is why the discovery that Kaname told an EFA-cum-A-LAWS soldier the truth about Mithril and herself has stung Tessa extremely deeply. Kaname has demonstrated that she is extremely sorry, and wants to do anything she can to repent, but the damage is done; Tessa is not sure what, if anything, she can trust Kaname with anymore, and the relationship between the two is now very strained. Awkward, considering they're roommates in Tokyo University, and Tessa knows she can't just pull out without getting some potentially dangerous attention. Ambivalence *Johnny Domino: An EFA-cum-A-LAWS soldier. Tessa hasn't met him, though she is attempting to get a copy of his personnel file. Tessa's interaction with him came entirely when he called an unlabeled number left on his phone by a certain troublesome woman and got Tessa's cell phone. The call didn't really tell her anything about him, because Kaname was in the room and it quickly became apparent that Kaname had some history with him that nearly completely destroyed Tessa's faith in one of her best friends. In the aftermath, Tessa has gone over what she knows, and realized Johnny Domino has known the truth about the Whispered for over a year, and yet Kaname has continued to attend school unmolested, and Wraith has not reported any unexpected observation of the Whispered. It seems Domino is keeping the secret. Tessa's not sure why; for now, she tentatively trusts this discretion to continue until such time as she has a chance to learn more about his thoughts. *Shine Hausen: Tessa has no particular problems with Shine, and in point of fact considers her policies fine. If she could have faith that such policies would be the guidepost for the Earth Federation's future, she would be much happier with the state of affairs, and probably willing to take a swing at negotiating. But that is the one thing she knows she can't rely on. She considers herself, in a twisted way, the stick to Shine's carrot - if they won't shape up when the face of a system that could /work/ frowns, it is time for Tessa to act. *Vindel Mauser: Although an enemy, Tessa knows essentially nothing about the man. *Sumeragi Lee Noriega: Tessa used to consider Sumeragi a drunken menace to Katharon's operations, but that was in large part the fact that she seemed completely intent on being an obstacle until she were to be 'removed'. Now that the older woman is back in the saddle, Tessa's starting to warm up to her again. Thanks to the magic of the retcon fairy, Tessa and Leesa Kujo have some minor history, though it would presumably inform Sumeragi's opinion of Tessa more than the other way around; Tessa was eight at the time. *Elenia Weyland: President of robotics for Weyland Motors and part-time supervillain. She's helping Tessa work out the kinks in her remote piloting project. And maybe possibly a little bit teaching her some bad habits. They shared a nice night of drinking and talking that led to Tessa, who pretty much hasn't had a mother figure for the majority of her life, feeling quite well-disposed to the maternal woman, but Tessa's recent need to cynically re-examine her relationships has led her to doubt Elenia's motivations in getting close to her. Still, her maternal demeanor and occasionally listening when Tessa needs to grumble about command woes has earned her a feeling of ease from the Littlest Colonel. Also: Teaching her how to smoke. *Marie Parfacy: The other half of Soma Peries. Tessa first sensed her presence during the three (four!?)-way resonance that led Soma to escape from the de Danaan, but wasn't able to confirm her as a fully-aware personality until Marie actually hunted her down at Tokyo University using a combination of Resonance memories and detective work. Tessa's uneasy with basically everything about Marie; her existence makes suddenly very real Tessa's fears of potentially undetectable other personalities lurking beneath several of her closest friends, and Marie being in A-LAWS but knowing of Tessa's flirtations with college education puts Tessa uncomfortably close to being at the girl's mercy. Still, Marie is a sweet girl and easy to talk to; they talk on the phone occasionally, and Tessa has confided some of her fears in Marie. If she didn't know they were enemies, she would be willing to call her a friend. Caution *Staren Wiremu: Staren's complete inability to shut his damn mouth is the #1 reason Tessa doesn't share much of Mithril's secrets with Katharon. *Meiya Mitsurugi: Although Tessa and Meiya have had a fairly amiable relationship in the past, culminating in Meiya meeting the girl face-to-face when Ulube Ishikawa briefly chased her out of the EFA, and subsequently flying under Mithril's flag against the EFA several times, Meiya's insistence on continuing to support the EFA despite having seen the things she has seen has won her Tessa's caution, particularly given her proximity to Kaname Chidori. Tessa simply does not 'get' the girl. She was there when Tessa retired to Jindai High for several months, but relations continue to be slightly uneasy.. *Paptimus Scirocco: The Man from Jupiter. Tessa has NO idea what to make of the man; when she met him he was kind if rather enigmatic, and her own reports from wtihin the EFA and A-LAWS say he is pretty much the nicest guy ever. Meanwhile, the AEUG treats him like the living embodiment of evil - and given the AEUG's quantity of Newtypes, she can't just pass off their instincts. *Zechs Merquise: Milliardo Peacecraft. Tessa harbored him aboard the de Danaan when he briefly took refuge in Orb, but although they seemed to understand each other, he eventually fled to the EFA with Wing Zero, her own creation. He's clearly set against them now - and with no real understanding of his thoughts or reasons, Tessa has no way to know why. Distrust *Leo Stenbuck: Tessa views Leo Stenbuck, from her current somewhat broken intel, much the same way she views Yazan Gable. He seems to be little more than an increasingly insane manchild, whose loyalties shift as soon as a new mobile weapon drops on the bargaining table. There's reports from the battlefield that he tore his way out of an allied battleship just to make sure he could launch sooner; the fact that he's even still on the A-LAWS flight roster after that tells her all she needs to know about A-LAWS' legitimacy as an organization. May well be working for Ribbons Almark, a possibility that has become essentially certain now that Leo is flagrantly displaying his ability to replace completely pulverized multi-billion-dollar machines in less than a day. Also he made Cagalli cry. Marie seems to think he's an OK guy, but other factors keep him from rising much in Tessa's regard. *Louise Halevy: An individual who was badly scarred by Katharon's renegade Trinity Team. Tessa is truly sorry for her suffering, but isn't going to be stopped by one bitter girl, no matter how rich she is. Louise is a primary funder of A-LAWS, making her a high-priority target. Marie relies on her emotionally, but Tessa knows better than to allow someone's merits as a human being stop her from protecting the Earth. *Mysterious A-LAWS "Cyber Newtypes": These guys aren't cyber newtypes. Tessa isn't sure what the hell they are, but cyber newtypes they ain't. Just the fact that they jumped so far up the ranks as soon as A-LAWS formed is proof enough of that. It is currently a high priority for her to figure out what the truth is. *C.C.: Seems to exist to be as big a troll as possible. Tessa is beginning to formulate some theories on why, but she has much more important things to deal with then a crazy pizza lady's need for attention, and largely ignores C.C. unless her antics present an actual threat. That said, C.C. represents probably the biggest reason for Tessa continuing to withhold information from the Black Knights. Contempt *Gauron *Ali Al-Saachez *Ribbons Almark *Leonard Testarossa Logs |ordermethod = title |notcategory = cutscenes |suppresserrors = yes }} Gallery Rampagetessa.jpg|Tessa is as cute as a million incredibly angry kittens. Tessapilot.jpg|This will never happen, provided you are very good and pray diligently to God. Category:Katharon Category:Katharon